Presentation grad's coast-to-coast run supports Navy SEALS

While the pinging of a cell phone is a common accompaniment to many a runner's workout, Christina Lee's text message notifications give her incentive to keep going on her 3,100-mile run from New York to San Jose.

Lee, a 2009 Presentation High School graduate, is running from coast to coast to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to support active Naval Special Warfare Operators and veterans, as well as their families. Every time someone makes a donation to her effort via her website, EasierSaidThanRun.com, she gets a text message letting her know.

Lee also blogs about her journey on the website, and on her Facebook page, though she admits that her posts often come off cheerier than she's feeling at any given point along the way.

"Often in my blogs I've done a poor job of talking about the day-to-day hardship, and that does a huge disservice to others because they don't see all the misery and doubts and fear and months of training," Lee wrote in an Aug. 20 text message to The Resident, sent from Iowa on day 44 of what she expects will be a 115-day run.

The reality, she wrote, is that "every day I'm struggling. There were several meltdowns in Illinois and two in Pennsylvania."

What keeps her on track is the knowledge that the people she's running to support face more extreme hardships on a daily basis.

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"Running a few miles each day isn't anywhere close to facing down a hail of bullets," she wrote. "The real hard work is done by [the SEALS], and I'm just the support team trying to make sure their families are taken care of."

Lee's fundraising goal for the run is $100,000. Her website showed donations of $6,822 last week, but that figure doesn't include money such as the $150 handed to her by farmers she stopped to talk with in an Iowa cornfield.

Her only constant companion on the run has been "Thor," Lee's nickname for the 60-lb. baby stroller she is using to carry everything she needs. Thor also carries her prized possession, an American flag and trident from an anonymous Navy SEAL.

While her family had concerns about Lee's safety on the run, they are understandably proud of what she is trying to achieve.

"When Christina completes this run in late October, she will be the third known woman to accomplish this feat," said her mother, Debbie Lehr-Lee.

"She wants to protect the families of those who protect our families," Lehr-Lee added. "How cool is that?"

Lee, who graduated from NYU in May with degrees in computer science, math and mechanical engineering, acknowledges that a coast-to-coast charity run is not the usual post-college track.

"I'm sure my parents will be thrilled when I am gainfully employed and living a more normal life," she wrote.

For another month or so, Lee's "normal life" will involve running an average 27 to 31 miles a day, stopping to stay with friends, family or folks who have volunteered to put her up for a night.

"Some days are less depending on how far apart the towns [where I'm staying] are located," she wrote. "My longest run to date was a 40-miler."

Despite having some meltdowns along the way, Lee is determined to stay positive about her experiences and focused on her goal. One of her hardest days thus far took her through Gary, Ind., where the sexual assault rate is three times the national average. While her heart was pounding hard even before she started running that day, she was determined to stay on course.

"Each step was a learning experience," she wrote on her blog, "and an opportunity to continue to think about the people who take such difficult steps day in and day out."